Tuesday 29th May 2018 - marketing ourselves

Posted 12:10pm

Am sitting in the offices of KPMG, just waiting to chzt with my mentor, Scott. So a good time to update our blog. I am going to push this again on social media today - so if you are reading this from that please do look back at our last few entries too - exciting times ahead we feel - especially as being a business set-up it has been a huge struggle.

We are preparing to do several of our programmes. With that in mind, it is important that we manage to market ourselves properly. There are a few events in the next few months where we will be able to chat to people and hand out flyers and leaflets.

Therefore, using the ever-present Vistaprint, we have now got A5 flyers for Healthy Minds, Healthy Bods, another for our Izzwalkz Clissold Park walk, and have just designed and ordered one regarding our Ajani Project - the main part of the business. Getting our foot in the door on mental health is not easy, as we have found. I think a lot of this is down to funding cuts, but also I think areas are protective around the work they already have. We are not copying anyone, and have approached this with a new fresh approach to not only dealing with mental health situations, but also aiming to be preventive too - something that has not always been done before.  We are, however, getting known - and in a good way.

We are updating our website again - looking at some new pages.  I really want to start utilising videos - especially as Luke is very photogenic (more so than myself). But we want, again, to do it in a new fresh way - with open discussions around issues - sometimes with guests too. We must start doing that in the next month. We are also looking at starting a new Izzwalkz website - naturally when we move to other boroughs we will have to come up with other names and new websites too.

I am very excited at the prospect of the next three months - I mentioned this on our facebook page. Again if people are looking at this who have not read our blog before, and coming off media:

Facebook - www.facebook.com/healthymindshealthybods  - please like and follow us

Twitter - @hmhb2016

And we have a new info blog  - www.hmhbinfo.blogspot.com - finding out about current research and news and putting it for people to see

Thanks everyone

Monday 28th May 2018 - big week ahead as Ajani HGMC starts

Posted 3:25pm

It's another Bank Holiday, and before I rush off to catch the new Solo, Star Wars film, I find it is an incredible six days from my previous entry - where do these days go? Time is rushing by.

But, once again, lots and lots is happening with HMHB. In particular, we launch our third ever Ajani programme with Highbury Grange Health Centre this Wednesday. From last May we did 2 programmes in 52 weeks. In the next thirteen weeks we should complete six.

Really excited by this one, and keeping everything crossed we get a decent number to justify the funding we received from Cripplegate Islington Giving. That's the only thing I am nervous about as we do not have that control. The programme itself is exciting. We have the seven sessions, three free gym studio visits, three day trips, six walks, six PT fitness sessions, a talk from the stop smoking team, a talk from the oral health team - wow!!!  We are thankful for all the support we are getting.

We also have the SHP one just about sorted too - but as only over 16 days we have one trip, and one gym studio visit. But still all the other perks - and we looking ata  different outcome dynamic.

We have proposed a walking programme to the council - who indicated they wanted to see that progress and that there could be money for that. We have said that at the end of a year we would like to have at least five weekly health walks running in Islington - overseen and managed by us. We can wait and see if they are still interested.  It would mean a new Izzwalkz website, plus marketing for all the walks, as well as running costs.

However, we are going to continue with our estates idea with the lottery too. With council and CCG backing.  Lots to get on with.

Tuesday 22nd May 2018 - lottery: program content: fitness equipment

Posted 5:00pm

Loving this weather. And looking forward to going to see Deadpool 2 this evening in Stratford. Getting out of the flat, enjoying the fresh air, collecting all the lovely Vitamin D from the glorious sunshine, it all lifts the spirits. Builds energy.

We have been  in touch with the North London Coordinator for the Lottery, We will me meeting her at an event organised by Voluntary Action Islington towards the end of June. However, we have taken the opportunity to invite her along to one of our programs we are running so she can see for herself what we are doing, how we do it, and hopefully get positive feedback from our users.

I have also been very busy ironing out the final content for the upcoming Ajanis. We like to do things a little different, which makes us unique and stand out from the crowd. In regards to health, instead of us telling people about the benefits of cleaning their teeth, we have organised someone from the Oral Health team to come and give a a presentation (we did that on both our previous courses and it went down very well). We do something similar in regards to smoking. Someone from Solutions4Health comes and presents on the benefits of stopping smoking (it does not matter if the users actually smoke as it is a good lesson anyway). We are excited to be working with them again.

Finally, we have increased our items of fitness equipment. After ordering them over six weeks ago, and having to reorder on Amazon after a non-arrival, we finally have a total of six boxing pads to go alongside our six pairs of gloves. At least this means we can have at least 12 people on our courses who can all work together. It will be fun using them on our Izzwalkz too.  All we are waiting for now are the 12 exercise mats to come - again, we have had problems, but hopefully by the end of May.

Tuesday 22nd May 2018 - Sage; Domains; GGT

Posted 1:35pm

Busy busy bee - that's me. It is great to be doing so much, as this means we are progressing - but there really is a huge amount of work going on, as well as coming up. I'm going to earn every penny of the lottery salary for two months in July and August.

I tried to work with Quickbooks accounting software - which is meant to be user friendly for small business. I found it far too confusing.  Most of my working life I dealt with Sage software (I am guessing most reading this are yawning by now - I love accounts though).

So I abandoned the Quickbooks - signed up for Sage - and it was like returning to an old friend. The interface has changed a bit, but thee fundamentals are the same, and I spent over five hours last night putting some accounts info in. I think I probably have another ten to fifteen hours to get up to date. That's because I am ensuring I have printed off invoices for all payments on the bank statements, as well as any paperwork for the incoming money - just in case anyone wants to look at it. I have several months to get the accounts in - but the quicker I do it, the quicker I can get on with proper work.  Sage is slightly more expensive than Quickbooks, but at least I know it well and can just get on and input.

We also had to do our "Confirmation Statement" with Companies House - a once a year necessity for all companies - just confirming all our details, our directors, etc. It costs £13, so not a lot of money. It means anyone can look up our details on the website.

Another basic bit of foundation is ensuring we have our domains up to date. We are with 123-reg and have both hmhb2016.org.uk and hmhb2016.org registered to us. I knew they were coming up for renewal so I made sure that automatically happens - as that would have affected out website.  I have also discussed with Kacper (our internet expert) about getting Izzwalkz domains and setting up a separate website - as if we expand it would be good to have pages for each walk as well as gallery, news, etc. Exciting times ahead I feel. I know the council are interested in expanding the walks. And they indicated there could be small funding available.

We have applied to the council for Great Get Together funding - to work a picnic with Highbury Grange Estate. Ironically there are three estates quite close together and Luke managed to chat with the lady in charge of the small community centre of one of those - a lovely lady called Laurette. I met her this week and we said if we got the funding we could run the picnic there - they have an indoor and outdoor area - and there is space for games and fun too. So keeping fingers crossed for that.  We would supply all the food and drink from the funding, plus volunteers and some games.

Sunday 20th May 2018 - Organisinng Calendars

Posted 1:45pm

It is very easy to allow information to overwhelm you - so good organisation is key when delivering a programme. With that in mind, especially with two up coming Ajani programmes coming up that will overrun each other, making sure we do not double book any days is vital.

With that in mind, I have just spent over two hours completing three up to date diaries.

Firstly we have our own ongoing HMHB diary - which is both on my phone and my laptop (just in case). Full of events, meetings, programmes etc. it enables me to keep on top of all HMHB stuff.

But we also need to make sure each individual HMHB Ajani programme has its own diary too. We have personal training sessions, days out, special speakers, walks etc, as well as the delivery course itself. It can add up to over 25 different events over a seven session course - so vital to make sure nothing overlaps.

Ironically, in June we do actually have one day where we need to be careful. Thursday 21st June is going to be a day where we need to have careful organisation. We have our regular Izzwalkz, we have our Ajani programme with SHP (both of these are in the morning), and in the afternoon we have aa day out at the Islington Museum for both our SHP and HGMP Ajani users combined - as well as any walkers that may want to attend. The poor museum will not know what has hit them. But we need to ensure we have staff for all groups. Coordination required. It could easily have been missed if I had not kept good diary records though.

This is good practice for us. In July and August we propose to run four Ajani programs at the same time - using the funding from the Awards For All Lottery. It will last us for two months, so we need to ensure we get the best possible value and outcomes from it.

That to-do list is scary!!!!

Friday 18th May 2018 - SHP, Ajani, Council, Amazon, Clissold Izzwalkz treat

Clissold Park Izzwalkz House Tour

Thursday 17th May 2018

Posted 1:30pm

Hope people will plod through this entry - as I think it is going to be a long one. And we have done so much work in the last three days - extraordinary.

Had a cracking meeting with Joe from SHP on Tuesday - we want to join up with them on the Dynamic Purchasing System used by Job Centres to tender our for work with them. I feel we can run some excellent joint courses. There is quite a lot of online applicating. But can get us noticed.

We have been organising our "extras" for out Ajani programs - it is all part of our USP. We hope to get the Oral Health Team in again - it is a fascinating presentation, and shows the huge benefits to looking after your teeth, and repercussions if you do not.  We have also contacted the Smoking people, and put emphasis we want to see people sign up to actually do something about their habits.

We have asked the Red Cross to do a first aid course for our Medical Centre Ajani - the SHP one is being run over a shorter time and we cannot fit it in on that one.  We have also asked Arsenal for a tour for the Medical Centre group too.  We aim to do the Islington Museum and Docklands Museum as our other trips.  I now need to update our programme diaries for the courses, as well as the HMHB diary. It is very easy to get dates mixed up - and with all this organisation we must be careful not to double book.

The exercise part of things is very important, and we will be welcoming PT Darren into our ranks, as PT Dean can only do a certain number of dates. We have never worked with Darren before, so part of his input will be voluntary, and part paid, but there are further opportunities ahead. We had bought some extra fitness equipment from Amazon - but even after six weeks it had not been delivered. We currently have 6 sets of boxing gloves, but only 2 sets of pads.  The four extra we ordered we have not got a refund for, and have ordered again - as we will need for both courses in June, as well as using on our Izzwalkz.  We are also waiting for our mats to be delivered - we are expecting 12 to come by the end of May.

The photo at the top was taken yesterday - when Ken (standing at the front) who is the Honorary Chair of the Clissold Park Users group - gave us a fantastic tour of Clissold House, and talked about its fascinating history. I know we were all very appreciative for his efforts, and it was great to have Luke and Dean join us - I know the group enjoyed the experience very much.  Next week is our British Library tour. Yay!!

Finally, we had an interesting discussion with the Council around our Estates proposal - getting people more active, providing opportunities to have a better and more healthy life.  Did not go exactly the way we were hoping. Budgets are very tight, and they would also like to take things a but slower. We understand their position very well. Just frustrating as we wanting to build on our recent good news and development.  I think there are still chances ahead.

Tuesday 15th May 2018 - website updates, funding thoughts, councillor

Posted 2:25pm

Very lucky with the weather lately, and we are feeling that luck at the moment. Following our great news from the lottery, we are sitting down working out the nitty gritty of the four programmes we are going to run, and getting the best possible value from the funds we will be receiving. It's an amazing opportunity to prove our trust, outcomes, and show that we are responsible, dedicated and focused on delivering quality.

With that in mind, it is very important to keep our social media fully up to date - and I have been working on the website for the last couple of hours - adding news to the feed - as well as putting on photos to our gallery page for 2018 - in fact I realised that I had not put on any at all - fully remedied.

We had a terrific chat last night with Osh Gantly and Sue Lukes at the Town Hall - two of my Highbury East councillors, and they are very supportive to the work we would like to do with the council on estates. A lot of chatting to do.  We sent off the drafted Powerpoint yesterday to several people to look at - before it is tweaked - and happy to report I am meeting with James on Thursday.

This afternoon I am meeting Joe at SHP to talk about the upcoming June program, as well as the DPS system for Job Centre commissioning.

 Yay!!!

Monday 14th May 2018 - Awards For All successful - plus British Library

Posted 5:00pm

Absolutely delighted to be able to let readers know we have been successful in our Lottery Awards for All application - which was to pay for four Ajani courses with the local Job Centres.

We are over the moon. It's a magnificent effort, and could greatly help us as we prove to establish ourselves.  It also means we can concentrate fully on delivering the best possible courses while we pursuing other avenues. It also shows we must be doing something right. We had to do a pitch of 4000 characters. Someone read that - more than one I guess - and said we were worth spending money on.

It does mean a lot of work to do in the next three months - a huge amount. I need to revise the "to-do" list.

Meanwhile, the British Library have confirmed today that they will be giving our walkers a free tour of the building on the 24th to celebrate our year and a half anniversary of Izzwalkz.

Win win today!!!!  Now heading off to meet Osh, our local councillor.

Monday 14th May 2018 - Powerpoint Presentation ready

Posted 1:15pm

Just getting ready to pop off to the gym - I realised that I have neglected that in the last week and the time can go so fast. Stood on the scales this morning and saw it had gone in the wrong direction.

I am upbeat though as I just managed to complete the PowerPoint presentation we want to deliver to the council and other parties on work we want to do in the Borough on Council Estates.

The Powerpoint is mainly to accompany the verbal delivery of the concept. I researched certain health statistics and figures relevant to the issues involved. I also wanted to show how we feel HMHB can be the ones to deliver the solution we have devised. I do not want to put too much here, but we wanted to try and overhaul the community in and around estates - areas of great deprivation - and maintain our overall aims and targets of getting people healthier, happier and fitter - both mentally and physically.

I am sure we will be making a few tweaks here and there - and hopefully we will be allowed to present the idea towards the end of May or start of June. With that in mind I am meeting up with my local councillor, Osh Gantly, tonight - was meant to be last week but we had to rearrange. She is the "mental health champion" and I am sure we can get her on board. I am also meeting up with SHP and Jeremy Corbyn's office this week.  A lot to do.  Our fear is people will see us as small and insignificant. Large companies have proven records of working and providing outcomes. But we have the passion, we have the concept and design, and feel we deserve the opportunity to deliver this.

Friday 11th May 2018 - Major Updates on HMHB

Posted 2:10pm

A lot of news to update the blog today - and I will be pushing it on Social Media too. If you do read this, we would love you to follow us - keep up with our news and progress as we continue to look for seed funding and get ourselves launched. Our connections and supporters are fundamental to being successful.

HMHB is putting together a proposal to the local council which would involve a three year project aimed at getting the more deprived areas of the borough, and the people who live in those areas, fitter, healthier, happier, and provide significant short term and long term benefits.  I do not want to get into the nitty gritty specifics here at the moment, as it is still being developed. We are aiming to deliver a PowerPoint presentation to the Council around the end of May/start of June, inviting several other relevant organisations to attend. It would mean HMHB could actually get the seed funding it needs to pay salaries, allow us to provide a fantastic programme to the borough, and over three years help thousands of people. Yes, it is ambitious. It will cost money. It will involve a lot of negotiation. But, will save huge sums of money in the long run if managed properly.

With all that in mind, we have been building connections and support for the last few weeks. Everyone we chat to likes the sound of the project, and can see the benefits. We just need to persuade the people who hold the purse strings.  We have a terrific independent Report on us by the local NHS CCG, and two reports on our successful Ajani programmes.

Our Ajani programme is also adapting. This is a new, fresh and unique approach to be both corrective and preventive help with mental health issues, especially on this out of work, but we are also creating a day event for corporate. The course covers Mindset, Health, Fitness, Nutrition and Routine - but in a way that enhances current provision. It does not copy anyone, and we feel is the future.

As some know - we ran two last year for Single Homeless Project, which were very successful,  We have won funding from Islington Giving to run a further Ajani starting on the 30th May with Highbury Grange Medical Centre, as well as getting the go ahead from SHP for another shorter type course starting on the 12th June.  Exciting times - but we really need seed funding.  We can achieve various outcomes from these though.

We really want to expand our walking programme - in Islington it is called Izzwalkz. A fun, interactive health walk, making sure everyone is comfortable, incorporating different stretches and various different exercises, but making sure anyone can take part regardless of age or fitness levels. We have run one now for nearly a year and a half, and have prepared a couple of treats for upcoming weeks. But it is more than a walk - it is bringing people together, having a laugh, and getting people outdoors and moving. Again though, to expand will cost a little money - and although all the research and studies say we should be moving more - for example, apparently 20 minutes exercise a day reduces risk of dementia by 13% - getting funding is proving elusive.

We have two Fully Qualified Personal Trainers working with us. We have started running a FREE weekly bootcamp fitness session on Saturday mornings on Highbury Fields (I confess that I am using that to help me with some weight loss at the moment). The sessions are aimed at anyone, and are fun.

We have been concentrating on research, development, designing HMHB for over four years. We have the fundamentals in place, the people ready to deliver, the due diligence completed. We just need a chance to act. So anyone reading this, that feels they maybe can help, please get in touch.

Our social media is below - including GoFundMe.  Please help us - let people know who we are, and what we aim to achieve.  We have done everything up to now with very very little money coming in. It will be impossible to continue soon without seed funding.

www.hmhb2016.org.uk

www.hmhbinfo.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/healthymindshealthybods

Twitter - @hmhb2016

www.gofundme.com/hmhb2016

Thanks everyone.  Lawrence 

Wednesday 9th May 2018 - being adaptable / website evolving

Posted 2:45pm
Hoping this weather stays as it is - although I have been stuck in the "office" (indoors, but an open area with people eating and drinking) typing away for several hours.

Nearly finished creating our Powerpoint presentation for Council - will let various see it first before I forward it on to the necessary people. And have three meeting this week which involve parts of it, and two already organised for next week - and waiting on several more.  I quite enjoy these things, but it does take time.

We have posters and flyers out for both our upcoming Ajani courses, but also it demonstrates that we need to be adaptable at short notice - a good trait to have, but also can create tension and issues. The Medical Centre course is 7 sessions over 6 weeks. However, the SHP course if going to be 5 sessions, over just 2 weeks - therefore outcomes will be have to be adjusted (we only found out today). It does leave us looking at our aims and targets, and also what we are looking to achieve. But on the other hand, it does allow us the chance to see how adaptable we can be.

We have had good contact with Islington Icope service, and hoping they can help us build numbers for the Medical Centre course.  SHP will push their course with their users.  We really want to get 10 users on each if possible.

The website has not changed much recently - I need to load up photographs to our Gallery Page, and certain wording needs to be adjusted. But our web guru is in the middle of Uni exams at the moment. Once finished we are going to have a good overhaul, add a couple of pages, and really make it even better. More to follow by the end of the month.

Tuesday 8th May 2018 - process, diligence, preparation, papers, accounts

Posted 1:15pm

Another glorious day of sunshine. It wasn't that long ago we were trudging through snow and icy winds. But I am definitely a warm weather fella. It lifts the spirits and drives me forward. Long may this weather continue.

I am just going to do an entry around our foundations. I have mentioned in the past about getting all the basics in place first before you can move forward. But I am not sure many realise just how much work goes into that. I have attended many network events in the past, listened to inspirational people with great ideas, but they have no concept of how much work they need to do before anyone will consider investment. I hear people saying they want quite large amounts of money, without understanding what they have to do beforehand.

We have created a great programme and base, but that is through thousands of hours of meetings, paperwork, and diligence. Business Plans, communication, networking, building relationships and trust, and a good understanding of budgets, and cashflows especially, are fundamental. But it all takes time, and a lot of it is  never seen by outsiders, who probably wonder why things take so long.

Policies, contracts, plans, spreadsheets, proposals, applications, even presentations, all have to be created, revised, adapted, and perfect!!!  So much rides on all - so pressure and stress abound aplenty (but that is quite good as it focuses your thoughts).

We have just signed up for Quickbooks. With recent funding from Cripplegate, and upcoming funding from SHP, I didn't want to base our accounts on Excel - I wanted to use accounts software. Sage was too much for what we wanted. Quickbooks should be okay, and it was a great deal online. And it will be good to have the software start from the beginning of our journey.

It feels like we have been setting up for ages. And we still do not have seed funding. But a lot of people know us now, and like what we are doing. We need to establish core funding in the next few months. I am sure we will. 

Monday 7th May 2018 - Great Get Together - plus Council and personal success

Posted 12:00pm

It's a glorious Bank Holiday. The sun is hot (understatement), and it is great to be out of the flat.

Last year, our first ever event was for the Great Get Togther - bringing communities together through an function.  We applied to the Council for one of their small grants they were giving out to groups, and were successful. We organised a terrific barbeque on Highbury Fields, inviting HMHB users, plus Change Grow Live, Single Homeless Project and thee Eagle project. And we had a fabulous time.

By chance I came across an email that said the council were giving out similar grants this year. The timing was spot on as I had to get the application in the following day, so yesterday afternoon I did the form and emailed it across. We aim to run a picnic this time on Highbury Fields, in conjunction with Highbury Grange Medical Centre and Highbury Grange Estate. I hope it happens - if so it is on June 23rd (Saturday).

I have been arranging meetings around our Council Estate proposal - I aim to finish that by Wednesday - and the Powerpoint to accompany it - and send it off requesting a chance to deliver the presentation before the end of May. This is probably the most crucial thing for us this year and our best opportunity to get salaries - so it has to be spot on. I think we have a unique idea, and hopefully Islington will back us.

I am meeting with two people from the Council this week, as well as the CCG. I am also interviewing a proposed second Personal Trainer (was going to be today, but now friday) to assist us. I am really excited at what could be the future.

Finally, I just wanted to say (as I need to be accountable) that my weight loss I started four weeks ago is going well. I started on the 6th April at 96.1kgs (appalled, shocked, disgusted) and aimed for half a kilo a week as my target. Well, I was 92.2kgs on Saturday. So averaging 1kg a week. Which I am delighted about. The aim is still half a kilo, but I must maintain this for the next two-four months. Yay!  Mindset - positive - etc.